Unworthy Sequel

It's ironic that Grasshopper Manufacture enjoy making toilet references in No More Heroes when it's starting to reflect the quality of their games, this sequel truly feels like a pile of crap! At first I wasn't really sure but now that I have finished the game I'm utterly convinced that the sequel is a poor follow-up to the first Heroes game.

The lame assemble of assassin is one thing, what happened to the cool introduction where their names splashed across the screen with a creepy silhouette of the assassin in the background? Also GHM clearly needs to watch more revenge movies because the vengeance plot in Desperate Struggle is about the lamest I have seen. This game took more than six months after its release to make its Japan release, perhaps GHM knew what they had in their hands with this game. Hopefully Suda 51 will be inspired by Nintendo forthcoming new hardware to come up with a better sequel as the first game was clearly inspired by the Nintendo Wii unique wii-mote.

Brothers of War

Kratos is the alpha male dog, there is possibly no other character as manly as him in the realm of video games. So it's only natural that Kratos gets to show another side of his man-liness by engaging in a little male-bonding in the new PSP chapter, Ghost of Sparta.

It's so weird to see Kratos searching for his lost brother Deimos and being all apologetic with him as the man is usually angry at everyone he meets. Strangely enough he still talk with his guff angry voice even when reunited with his brother Deimos. Male bonding may be as cliche as old love songs but some things just never go out of style.

Eyes to Behold

I have gone and done it again. This time I was so desperate that I didn't even bother with a standard Play asia coupon code. Speaking of codes, it's funny how those things are so readily available when you don't need them and when you do need one, you just can't seem to get hold of one. Story of my life I suppose.

Dragon's Quest

There's a dragon on a mission right now and that mission is to earn as many missing trophies as possible in Yakuza 3. Free from the constraints of the story mode, I'm able to focus my attention to areas which reward you with trophies for your hard work and so far, the trophy hunt has been the ultimate thrill. Some are getting exceedingly difficult to achieve like finding the remaining locker keys but having Kiryu adequately level up does help and certainly make you feel up beating the hell out of anyone who gets in your way.

I actually dislike trophies that require you to go out on a limb beyond the context of the actual game and the trophy that best describes this is the 'careless dragon' trophy. I'm just glad to have gotten that out of the way but there's still a ways to go as I'm only about 50% done with the game. Hopefully I should be able to get most of these done and also put some time into the japanese import before the localised Yakuza 4 ships early next year.

An Analog Hero in a Digital Age

I'm a bit torn when it comes to the mini-games on No More Heroes 2 where you have work the odd side-jobs to earn income as entry fee to the assassin federation. While I love the "bite-size" nature of what these mini-games can offer, I have yet to fully master the controls of a 8-bit Travis touchdown with the analog stick. The game offers classic controller support as suggested in the opening moments of the game but I have yet to break out that controller in frustration. The D-pad on the Wii-mote is also perfectly function-able in these mini-games but its positioning makes it difficult for me to fully wrap myself between firing the A&B buttons and moving Travis with the D-pad.

Guess it just goes to show that some things never go out of style so long as these 8-bit 2D games are still around, there will always be a use for the D-pad to go along with it as the analog stick simply doesn't capture the simplicity of the controls. I'm not sure how many more times I can endure another failure because I couldn't push the analog stick to the right angle at a crucial moment.

Less Means More or Less?

No More Heroes was one of the early favourites on the Nintendo Wii platform but as time grows the "series" began to lose its charm with me. It's a real shame as the first No More Heroes still sits at the top of my longest playing time list on the Nintendo Channel, something I suspected will not change for a while until I find the time to pick up playing Monster Hunter Tri again.

It started when the game made an appearance on other consoles as a high -def port of the Nintendo Wii original. This was right around the time when Grasshopper Manufacture were about to release the sequel Desperate Struggle on the Nintendo Wii, a sequel which Suda 51 had earlier decided to step away from the directing duties and instead served as a executive director. Understandably, it caused quite a damper in my excitement for the game despite the glowing reviews early on.

Now that I have the game, I can finally see how much better this sequel supposedly is compared with the original. The most obvious difference when you first start playing is the world hub from the original is completely gone, every location in Santa Destroy is now a button click away with a loading screen in between. There are a lot of loading time maybe because the playing time on each mini-game is so brief especially if you fail, you spent very little time actually playing the "real" Travis Touchdown. A sequel is expected to have more content than the original but somehow I can't tell if that's the case for Desperate Struggle, a startling discovery considering how much content was in the first game.

Other Way to Play M?

Frame Fatal IV is a favourite in my wii collection so i dread to think what will happen when the next Wii system update renders the patch useless. Metroid : Other M poses a bit of a problem because the game prompts a system update in order to play which is something I'm not prepared to give up just yet.

There is another solution to this problem, I could import the japanese version of Metroid : Other M just like i did with Fatal Frame IV. The US cover art for Other M is just too unappealing for my taste and I have read that the Japanese import of Other M happens to be import-friendly with both English and Japanese voice options. Sounds like a far superior version to add to my collection though it likely won't be cheap just like Fatal Frame. In any case I should really finish my second play-through of Fatal Frame IV and maybe even start on the Metroid Prime Trilogy before I even consider getting another Wii game. Did I also mention I pick up No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle a while back?

Blowing It Out of the Waters

I knew Uncharted was a great game but i didn't expect it to be a technical marvel on such a beastly machine like the ps3. Apart from the initial loading time when booting the game there is virtually no loading time on this game not even when you die and have to restart from a checkpoint. The game runs seamlessly from one part to another without the need of any data installed onto the hard disk, how did naughty dog pull off such a feat?

The best part is probably the no loading time when you view cutscene on the bonus gallery which Resident Evil 5 despite coming one year later couldn't do.

Fortune and Thieves

I have been around the gaming block long enough to know that first-party games almost never get a price drop especially the Nintendo made ones. I was fortunate enough to pick up both first issue of Uncharted and Uncharted 2 at budget label price and if these games turned out to be as good as they say then it would really be a steal. I'm aware that Uncharted 2 haven't actually received a re-issue but up until recently, the game didn't look like it was going to get a major price drop. Maybe a budget label or Game of the Year re-issue is on the horizons because the dealer told me that the price drop was attributed to making way for a new version. This certainly deviate from my original plan of finishing the first Uncharted before even considering of picking up the sequel so looks like I would have to make haste with the first game.

It all started with my friends finally getting their bluetooth headsets and playing RE5 co-op with them over the weekend. It felt good playing co-op with old friends and part of me long to play co-op over a new game with all three of us together, something I thought Uncharted 2 fit the bill to the tee. I didn't really want to play Operation Flashpoint again though that isn't completely out of the question I did make a pact with my old friends that I would pick up Uncharted 2 if they would get their headsets. With the price drop just at the right time, I'm glad I was able to keep to my word without going overbudget.

Desperate to Kill

One of the trophies I'm still short of in Resident Evil 5 is the 150 kills on Desperate Escape. Just the other weekend I played this DLC with a friend offline and both of our combined kills tally doesn't even cross the mark, never mind single-handedly. Ok maybe he's a little new to this level and we were both trying to get use to the split-screen but the experience did little to boost my confidence of achieving this trophy.

Nevertheless I gave it another go with an AI-controlled Josh a couple days only to get stuck on Veteran mode at the beginning because I couldn't save my AI from the swarm of chainsaw majinis and big man majinis. A quick change back to Normal mode and I was rocking my way to 150 kills with Jill armed to the teeth and an AI Josh serving as extra storage. I remember earning the trophy just before the final siege and when that was over, I was just 2 short of 200 kills. Now I just got to find someone crazy enough to do it all over again with me on Professional mode for the last DLC trophy.

Can Dead Rising Really Vanquish Resident Evil?

Despite being the biggest creative force at Capcom right now I have never taken a liking to Keiji Inafune. His choice of projects and lack of involvement with the Resident Evil series made me think there's more to this man than meets the eye. Now his recent bold declaration of what he has planned for the Dead Rising series to ultimately displace Resident Evil as Capcom top IP merely confirms my suspicion that this guy is an ego maniac. You see Dead Rising is Keiji's own labour of love, a zombie game that has more to do with Romero's zombie movies than Capcom's Resident Evil.

For the longest time I have always had a sneaking suspicion that Inafune has distanced himself from the Resident Evil series because it's Shinji Mikami's legacy at Capcom not his, contributing to the series will only further Mikami's legacy. Now Keiji's influence in Capcom has grown to the point that his name pops up on every Capcom project yet Capcom's biggest creative head has little to do with Capcom's biggest IP. All he has done is serve as the promotion producer on the original Resident Evil 2, probably to work with Romero on those TV commercials and later doing the devil's work on the playstation2 port of Resident Evil 4. Now that his intentions are made clear about what he has planned for Dead Rising and Resident Evil it's plain obvious what kind of person Inafune is. I was planning to get Vanquish all along instead of Dead Rising 2 but now I detest the man to the point where I will not buy his zombie game.

Why Does It Have to Be Poodles?

I have heard that the original version of Dead Rising didn't feature zombified poodles and birds but since the Wii version is modelled using the RE4 engine, Capcom decided to jazz the game up a little by adding them. That's probably the breaking-point for the game as the developers failed to realised that this isn't Resident Evil, you don't have the luxury of standing around trying to take aim at these flying birds coming at you. When frustration sets in, I have even attempted to hurl/swing my melee weapon in that direction hoping to land a direct hit at these poodles and birds. Sometime it works but you can clearly see these poodles are not designed to take such hits.

Suddenly the most menacing thing in the game isn't the sheer number of zombies but how many of these little bastards lurking among them ever ready to make your life miserable.

Last Hurrah for Touchdown

Although there have only been two No More Heroes games so far the series has always been about Travis Touchdown to me. Kinda like how Al Pacino's Tony Montana made Scarface into one of the best mob movie ever, it hard to imagine how either one would fare without their central character. The first No More Heroes game was a very average game when striped to its bare-bones and mind you, there isn't even that much meat on the bone to begin with. It has a couple of things that made it stand out though like a killer soundtrack, good voice casting and of course, Travis touchdown.

Suda was mentioned that No More Heroes 2 will probably be the last one appearing on the Wii platform and also travis touchdown's final appearance. Any future installment will have to wait for Nintendo's next-gen console and will not feature travis as the central character. Things have changed quite a bit since the first No More Heroes game, there weren't so many third-party games on the Wii platform back there. Now that I finally have my copy of NMH2 I can finally see how it stacks up against today's third-party games, hopefully Suda and co have given travis a proper send off that he deserves...

...and have him killed off at the start of NMH3 in a totally-irrelevant manner like only Suda can.

Rainy Days & Mondays

No matter what era of music you grew up on the classic Carpenters never go out of style. From being prominently featured in the movie Tommy Boy to Nicolas Cage making part of his Johnny Blaze character, the Carpenters are distinctly hip for such soft melody music. Well maybe we should leave Nicolas Cage's Ghost Rider out because badass biker with a spirit of vengeance and the Carpenters just don't mix plus Cage isn't exactly hip anymore these days.

Sing is not the first song that come to my mind when I think of the Carpenters in fact i don't even remember the song was featured in Sesame Street despite coming to know of the Carpenters from my dad's records as a kid. Now thanks to Hideo Kojima I can't think the recent Peace Walker without thinking of the Carpenters' song, Sing. It was the only source of comfort during the horrific torture sequence and also strangely became the boss' theme music in Peace Walker. Somehow it fits with the theme of Peace Walker and the game's message of peace. This is probably the second time I remember a pop culture song being featured in a Metal Gear and both instances happened to be part of the Big Boss saga. The last time was during the ending credits of Snake Eater and a popular britpop band's song was used. I can't exactly remember the band or the name of the song but I did remember thinking to myself that Kojima-san got great taste in music.

NBA Jam Crossover

When I first watch NBA games as a kid I didn't think anyone could possibly missed a potential slam dunk for a sure-fire two points but it's possible. The ball hitting the wrong side of rim on its way down sometimes just bounced off in the opposite direction flying as fast as a hard dunk. In a way EA sports missed a potential slam dunk when they did both parties (ps3/xbox and wii) injustice for their highly-anticipated reboot of the NBA Jam brand.

EA are indeed bringing the game to the ps3 and 360 but as a downloadable-content if you purchased NBA Elite 2011 for the respective platform. The catch is it isn't the full version of the NBA Jam game on the Wii and NBA Elite isn't really that good of a basketball game according long-time hoop gamers. So Nintendo loses another exclusive third-party game while Sony and Microsoft gets a real boost for NBA Elite especially since the game wouldn't have any resell value as the downloadable code for NBA Jam is for use one-time only. It's like EA sports is trying to please everyone but just end up upsetting everyone instead, ps3/360 are getting a gimped version of NBA Jam while Wii owners are no longer enjoying an exclusive third-party game. I was initially planning to get the Wii version if it was exclusive then decided to go for the ps3 version since it would probably be cheaper as a downable game on PSN. It's not going to be available for purchase on psn or xbox live so it's likely i won't be able to find anyone to play with since online mode for the wii version is still unconfirmed.

Looks like EA Sports just lost a lot of potential sale of NBA Jam on the Wii though it probably won't hurt having a free game included with NBA Elite. This feels like EA's payback for Dead Space Extraction poor performance on the Wii platform but surely nobody deserves to be treated like this, Wii and ps3/360 owners alike.

A Witch's Job is Never Finished

It's been a while since I last played Bayonetta and while I long to play that game again there are always issues preventing me from doing so. For one thing there are other games waiting to be played (though the reality is I'm also replaying some other games at the moment) and then there is also the 'fragility' of dualshock3 controller i have to be concerned with.

During this time Platinum Games has released a 5-disc soundtrack album and artbook to complement the game release with the Best of reprint of the original game for Japanese market scheduled for release later in September. Looks like a witch's job is never finished surely this won't be the last we see of her as Platinum Games is set to unveil some Bayonetta-related news really soon according to the game's producer. While I would love to add both the 5-disc soundtrack and artbook to my collection it stills burns that I wasn't given the pre-order soundtrack sampler when i purchased the japanese copy of the game from a local dealer. Having the 5-disc soundtrack might just be a painful reminder of that so the artbook is certainly much more tempting to me right now. Now if only I was done going through the last artbook I got I won't feel so guilty about getting this now.

Quick Torture Event

While I take good care of my games I don't normally go overboard with my controllers like most. I believe restraining yourself with the controller will ultimately just hinder your enjoyment of the game after all these controllers are made to take the abuse. Despite my penchant for fast-paced hard-hitting action games I only had to replace my controller once on any of my past consoles so there is surely some truth to this.

Things are a little different with handhelds after all you can't just replace the faulty controls you have to replace the entire system so I'm not sure how I should restrain myself with these handheld games. Thankfully most developers don't expect you to button-mash like a madman in front of public eye so handheld games aren't really made that way.

Except Peace Walker isn't like any other handheld game and Hideo Kojima isn't any ordinary developer either. I have read fans lament about the now-infamous torture sequences that live on in every Metal Gear games fearing the worst for what's to come in Peace Walker. Tonight I survived the ordeal and my PSP lived to tell the tale but the build-up to that very moment was agonizing to say the least. I was about 25 hours into the game with no idea of when the torture sequence would pop up and what to expect save the unfavourable feedback from online fans. Then Snake gets captured in my last mission and I knew it was just around the corner but somehow I messed up the quick-time event leading up to the scene. So being the paranoid android that I am I decided to replay the last mission to get the quick time event scene right before playing the torture sequence. I'm not sure if it helped or not but I had an easier time getting Snake out of the prison cell then if I have failed the scene. I certainly don't want to replay that torture sequence again though the game itself is pretty addictive. If there is one thing I know about lady luck is you should never push her too hard.

Please Wake Up Kotaku

Inception is a great movie, ok I get it. But does Kotaku really have to go all fanboy out on the movie with what is probably their fifth, sixth or maybe tenth post on the movie? Kotaku is a gaming site the last time I checked so what does Inception have to do with video games? Absolutely nothing as far as I know but who knows maybe these God knows how many post might argue that point. Bottom line is I come to a game blog to really about games and not so much on movies or whatever else that interests Kotaku. I'm not sure if Mr Nolan would appreciated his latest "masterpiece" being associated with a lower medium of entertainment such as video games.

It's like they ran out of good game articles to post and simply mail one in. Heck I have been tempted to do so and in fact done so on a few occasion but my personal blog wasn't never meant to be anything more than my personal account on my favourite games. I expected more of Kotaku.

Ok enough ranting for on day, looks like I got away with one myself. Hehe.

Evil Dead Rising

Being a longtime fan of the Resident Evil series I have always long for the series to be more like Dead Rising (more zombies) but Capcom has been adamant that the series is not going in that direction even with the technology available to them. Resident Evil 5 could easily had more zombies per screen and in fact, it did at one time if you go back and watch the early trailers prior to the game release.

Playing Chop Till You Drop over the weekend made me realise more Dead rising in Resident Evil could be a good thing but more Evil in Dead Rising certainly is not. Confused yet? As Capcom was making changes to the original Dead Rising for the Nintendo Wii, the developers placed a greater emphasis on the firearms possibly to stress on the ease and precision of the Wii controls as previously demonstrated in RE4 Wii Edition.

Leaning on the firearms revealed just how different these two games really are, the zombies in Dead Rising doesn't react to gun shots with the same realism as in Resident Evil. Sometimes when I'm going to a leg shot to follow up with a melee attack, they end up dying in an instance instead. From getting shot in the knee! The guns in Dead Rising also doesn't feel as accurately portrayed as they are in the Resident Evil series making me loathe the gun shooting even more. As such I try to go about my zombie killing by any other possible way but that has proven difficult at times as you just can't charge into the mob of zombie blocking your way. Sometimes in order to make a path to the next store where you could possibly find another melee weapon you have to shoot your way though the mob.

Over the Hills for Trophies

Finishing Silent Hill Homecoming today seems a little less significant considering the game doesn't offer any trophy incentives. While trophy-less games like MGS4 and DMC4 compensate by recognising your in-game achievements with their own in-game ranking system Homecoming doesn't even track your gameplay statistics at the end of the game. A major blunder on Double Helix part considering every past game in the series had their feature even the Climax-developed installments.

Right now I only have four games on my trophy list but I intend to achieve Platinum on everyone of those games. The catch is not to over-do it and make trophy-hunting the primary aim of re-playing those game, I have a friend who grind many hours through Infamous on his way to his first Platinum trophy only to sell the game immediately afterwards because he was so sick of hunting for the final trophy. I certainly do not wish for the same to happen to me with my games but tendency to go all out on a trophy hunt is always there.

Integral Podcast

The last time I finished MGS4 at the beginning of 2009, Kojima Productions was just beginning with their integral podcast for the game. By then the game is already one and a half year old with myself finishing it twice, there was little desire to go back and play it again - podcast or not. Now that I'm playing Peace Walker, it seems like the perfect time to play MGS4 again. I'm sure that would raise more than a few eyebrows when my friends log into PSN then again I was never really the most up to date gamer anyway. When accessing the online portion of MGS4 I was overwhelmed with the sheer amount of content Konami added to the game since I last checked in 2009. Aside from the podcast, there are also remixes of classic Metal Gear tunes and new camouflage to enhance your Metal Gear experience.

The integral podcast is a lot of fun, it's like having a live walkthrough guiding you through the course of the game. Of course that's not the real purpose of the podcast but having to pay attention to the guys talking, it's nice that you don't have concentrate on slipping by the guards too much. I'm about two acts into the game and intend to keep my kills and alert record clean while at the same time, listening to these guys reflect on the making of the game via the podcast.

When Love and Hate Collide

I'm still undecided whether I like Silent Hill Homecoming or not, it's frustrating at times while being bearable for most of the time. One thing's for sure, it's not good enough of a game for me to upgrade my korean version to the region 1 version when I passed up Play-asia recent re-stock of the title.

The flashlight for the game is so bad that I sometimes have to switch it on and off using the shortcut button just to make sure it's turned on. Then again maybe the developer were trying to achieve a more realistic lighting and darkness effect like what the early Resident Evil 5 trailer promised. Maybe this is what a real cheap flashlight will look like I'm not sure. The high definition graphics is nice but by making most of the background object interactive via Havok physic, everything just end up looking crude and far bigger than they should. The meticulous art direction of Team Silent past games is never honoured, though I find Homecoming vision of the Otherworld a bit more to my disliking than the real world of Shepherd's Glen.

As for the region 1 version, I never really have that great of a Silent Hill collection to begin with anyway though I would like to add it's still better than some pathetic 'collection' put together just with copies of konami palace reprints. I guess I can live up with this korean version, I would rather put my money and effort into looking for the Silent Hill 4 The Room still missing from my collection right now.

Don't Judge Me

This morning I received an email informing me that Castlevania Judgment has just drop to $19.90 in Play-asia, great news for Castlevania fan like myself. Only problem is I ordered my copy a week ago and it arrived promptly at my doorstep today. Oh well the universe is balance and savings that I earned from bargain deals like this usually ended up funding pricey collector's edition and first-day purchases anyway.

Judging from the box art, the game support online versus play with fourteen classic Castlevania characters to choose from. Only problem I could only recognise about five out of the fourteen characters so much for being a Castlevania fan. I have been longing to add this game to my collection but I haven't actually play any of the last three Castlevania in my collection either so this is purely for collecting sake at this point. Looks like I haven't break away from my bad habit of buying games when I don't have time to play otherwise I would have save a bit more on this game.

Zero Suits Me Just Fine

Even though I have the tendency to leave things unfinished when I play a game for the first time, I don't have the foresight to compile a to-do list for future re-plays. Looking at the list of unlockables for Fatal Frame IV, it's easy to see which one is the most appealing and yet still attainable within my limits as I prepared to play the game again. Of course I'm talking about Samus infamous zero suit for lead character Ruka which requires 200 photos to be captured from the Ghost List.

Luckily for me I'm quite a completist when it comes to the Ghost list and enjoys the hunt of getting those tricky shots of disappearing ghost. In my first play through I'm came about 50 shots short of 200 ghost capture, so it should be fairly easy to unlock this. However in the process of re-playing the game I realised that the easier shots are already on my ghost list so most that remains the fast-moving ghost that require you to be quick on your feet in addition to being quick on the shutter button. That zero suit is going to feel all the more rewarding when I do reach 200 captures and who knows maybe it might actually inspire me to finally start playing the Metroid trilogy.

Inside the Darkside

I recently put away my copy of Darkside Chronicles to make way for other games but that doesn't mean I'm done with the game. Far from it as the amount of content and unlockables packed into that game is simply staggering especially when compared with its predecessor. I have heard from my friends that there is an artbook released for the game but other that a recent sighting on Play-asia I have seen little of this to convince me its worth getting. So when the book went out of stock on Play-asia yesterday I went into my usual panic mode and started googling up on the book. Sure enough from what I can see online it does look like an artbook similar to the one released for the first Umbrella Chronicles game.

A quick search online and mad rush trip downtown was all it took before i finally added the book to my collection late last night. It cost quite a bit more than the first book but hopefully judging from the sheer amount of content in both game, this will be a much more worthwhile book too. The number of pages certainly doesn't feel like so but it's hard to resist with such a nice cover and it's Resident Evil after all.

Zero Needs A Hero

When I first bought Fatal Frame IV, I knew it came with an expiry date and that was part of the reason why I pushed all other games aside to finish it that time. What I didn't expect was the expiry date to arrive so soon as I was met with an unwelcome surprise playing my Wii last weekend. In my final hours with Darkside Chronicles before putting it away, I received a message from Nintendo informing me that the new system update 4.3U is already available for download. This could potentially render my Fatal Frame IV patch useless as it was made to run on the earlier system update 4.2U.

Perhaps it was fitting that I was done with Darkside Chronicles as I must now go back to playing Fatal Frame IV, who knows how many updates Nintendo will issue and how many Team Zero can successfully find ways to bypass it. Though the team behind the fan-made translation project are fairly confident to get around any future Nintendo updates, there is always the fear in me that this could very well be the last time I'm able to play Fatal Frame IV on my Wii.

The Big Picture

I liked how i started with Fatal Frame III, I just didn't like how I finished it this past weekend. True enough I grew desperate to get the game out of the way once I knew it was indirectly holding back some other games i was wishing to play. So i ultimately resorted to FAQ to finish the last two chapters of the game having grown fed up of wandering around aimlessly in the game not sure of what to do.

Surprisingly the core story of Fatal Frame III still make a lot of sense despite me playing off and on for goodness know how long since I started. The tie-in to previous installments of Fatal Frame games are a nice touch for longtime fans but what i liked best is the series uncanny abilities to tell a deeper and bigger picture by providing backstory to every ghost that appear to haunt you in the game. If you are not bother to get involved with the game they may seem like random ghost but usually every ghost has a past life and how they come back to haunt you is revealed if you are resourceful enough to snap the quick shot. Speaking of which, now that I'm done with Fatal Frame III i can finally think about going back to 4 on the Wii.

Evil Now Has a Home

Fresh from the recent E3 announcement of a new Silent Hill, I have finally added Silent Hill: Homecoming to my collection. It was a long and initially hopeless process from the fruitless search in the US trip to Play-asia running out of stock, it didn't seem likely I would get to play the series entry to the HD generation. There was a rare sighting of the game here and there but mostly the timing and the price was just not right to commit to the purchase.

This time I happened to find the korean version of the game which I recall Play-asia was selling for as low as USD24.90 at one time but i passed it up waiting for a further price drop of the US version. Now that the US version is longer available locally, I had no choice but to settle for the Korean region 3 version and hope that the earlier reported problems with the inverted controls doesn't surface. I will admit this it's going to take some work to get this copy of the game to fit in with the rest of collection both from the aesthetic and space point of view.

Back to Zero

Finally Fatal Frame III is in the books at last, I cheated and lied my way through the end but at that point I didn't really care anymore (haha). Maybe I didn't cheat or lie but I certainly did refer to faqs for the last two chapters of the game, something I would normally not do for games I'm playing the first time. I didn't want to spent any more time with this game as my play time has already exceeded that of part IV (19 hours+ !) though I'm confident I would be able to finish the game on my own eventually.

The story of part III is pretty good on its own made even better for longtime fans of the series with all its connection to the past games of the series. I made sure to keep the save file of this game handy by making a copy on my playstation3 hard disk so hopefully i will be able to give the game the attention it deserves one day.

Excess Baggage

True story about Devil May Cry 3, when I first played that game I took a six months lay-off somewhere in between as I was stuck on one of the boss fight before ultimately returning to finish the game. While Fatal Frame III wouldn't be rivaling Devil May Cry 3, I have certainly started this game far too long ago and have yet to finish it even once. Part of the problem with the game is I felt the third installment had too much baggage and had problem recalling the events and character from past games referenced in part III. I felt a need to replay the previous two games in order to get the most out of part III but in doing so, I'm afraid Fatal Frame III might really rival Devil May Cry 3 as the longest game I took to finish.

Frame Frame III also had a tendency to dump the player in a scenario with little or no clue as to what to do, a recipe for disaster for someone who plays the game irregularly like myself. The light at the end of the tunnel is near, I just hope i have enough will power to make it there.

Burning Twice as Bright

Patience is not something most gamers would like to practise, myself being guilty of that many times as well. This one time when i decided to skip finishing Fatal Frame III on playstation2 and moved straight to Fatal Frame IV on the Wii did work out better than I thought and prove that patience is not always a virtue. By doing so, i avoided burning myself out and managed to finish part IV after playing the game consistently for about two to three weeks. Just as I started, I was struggling to juggle my playing time between Fatal Frame IV, Yakuza 3 and also Monster Hunter Tri which i recently got. Something had to give with Yakuza 3 seeing less and less playing time than rest, i decided to give that game a break and just concentrate on the two games on the Nintendo Wii. Truthfully I felt a little burnt out having to play Yakuza 3 after racing to finish Yakuza 2 a few months back and the slow pace at the beginning of that game certainly didn't help as well.

Now that I have finished Fatal Frame IV, Yakuza 3 didn't feel like such a drag as before and of course, Fatal Frame III still needs finishing touches before I can even think of playing part IV again. I guess games are always best played when you are not rushing to finish them for whatever reasons it may be.

From Spirits to Zombies

Nothing puts a good bargain to waste like not actually making use of it and it comes to games, i have certainly had my fair share of those. Though I have no intentions of letting any of my recent good bargains go to waste the fact that i have more than one does complicate the situation. High on the list to play would have to be Dead Rising and Muramasa as these third-party games do have a tendency of losing their retail price real fast so i better not leave them idle for long. Metroid Trilogy can actually wait because i doubt i would be able to find it again had i not picked it up that time and as much as i'm looking forward to Other M, it probably won't be a first day purchase for me.

Between Dead Rising and Muramasa, the choice is really simple as i would prefer to wait until i have a classic controller in hand before playing Muramasa. That leaves me with Dead Rising which does seems like the ideal choice as its campy horror is just the perfect antidote for the spookiness of Fatal Frame IV.

Monster Good TIme

Not long after splashing out on an expensive japanese import like Fatal Frame IV, the hole in the my pocket gets bigger with yet another big third-party Wii exclusive on the horizons. That's right Monster Hunter Tri is almost upon us and if you are a big fan of Capcom games and Wii exclusive like myself then you have to get this game, nevermind the fact you know almost next to nothing about the world of Monster Hunter.

Part of the problem with Monster Hunter is if you don't have a band of hunters to hunt with, you stand almost no chance against some of the latter monster you will meet in the game. Fortunately there is an active community of gamers willing to commit time and effort to this game so i'm less fearful of this problem. The bigger problem is the world of Monster Hunter can seems so daunting to newcomers, this is truly a game for the hardcore gamers and expects a big commitment from the gamer in order to get the most out of it. This is probably also my last chance to get acquainted with the Monster Hunter series having missed the first two installment on the PS2 and PSP. Being a Capcom fanboy, I felt like I had to be a fan of the Monster Hunter series with it rising rapidly among ranks of Capcom other franchise.

The Rule of Four

Capcom's rule of four seems to suggest that by the time a franchise reaches the fourth installment. a major rehash is in order. Tecmo may have took this theory to heart when they were developing the fourth installment of the Fatal Frame series. Collaborating with Grasshoppers and Nintendo on a new platform, a change of things was definitely in order.

Visually the game looks and plays a lot like the Ashley chapter in Resident Evil 4, completed with all the lighting effects that made the Gamecube version incomparable during its time. The control takes a bit of getting used to with a combination of classic and motion controls blended together but i liked to think it adds tension to the game much like the archaic controls of the early Resident Evil games. Many series veterans have lamented that this new installment on the Nintendo Wii has been dumbed down to cater a new audience but i didn't really get that feeling. There were plenty of cheap scares early on and the game generally feels creepy, it's definitely been a while since i had the hair on the back of my neck standing.

When Grasshoppers and Ninjas Collide

You really have to tip your hat off to the translation team behind the Fatal Frame 4 english patch, they are clearly well-versed enough to enjoy the game in its original form but decided to produce a patch for everyone to have a chance to experience this great game. My japanese import of Fatal Frame 4 arrived promptly yesterday and since the only other game i'm busy with happens to be a bit of a slow-burner, i decided to play Fatal Frame 4.

Part of the eagerness was for the game itself and part of it was curiosity of how it all works with the patch installed onto the system. Thankfully after a quick restart, everything began to run smoothly as you hoped in fact, the translation work is so seamlessly you probably think it was an official localization of the game rather than fan-made. I have read that pretty much everything was already in placed and all that was required was a good understanding of the Japanese language and then it was just a matter of replacing the hiragana and kanjis with the ABCs. The fonts of the English text doesn't look awkwardly out of place or 'burnt-on' save perhaps for some of the menu but i have yet to load the game in its original form so i don't know for sure if the above statement is true. A huge thanks to the guys who made this possible, it's the stuff that fans always talk and dream of but rather ever happens. You guys have certainly prove it is possible, this game feels like such a quality product that i can't possible cram all my impressions into this one post.

Intercooler Impressions

The last time i bought anything from Nyko I ended up not using it much as there is only so much lightgun games one can play. I have kept the perfectshot back in its box since my early plays of Umbrella Chronicles and have yet to even dust off them for my recent Darkside Chronicles run.

The Intercooler TS is an entirely different matter, fitted onto my Playstation3 it will form part of my console and function as much as the system. It has to be up to speed and frankly if it cost a bit more it would be worth the money too. Thankfully the price of Intercooler is on par with the other third-party brand I saw in Singapore, in fact its worth every dollar considering how much it will be used and how well it works. The common complaint i often hear of the product when reading up on it was the loud noise emitted by the fans when operating. That much is true but the noise doesn't bother me much as i'm used to the noise of the built-in cooling fan of the ps3 by now. The intercooler fits on to the back of the playstation3 where the vents are, a big difference considering all USB-powered fans fit onto the front vents of the playstation3. At first i didn't understand how the Intercooler could work placed onto the back vent with all the exhaust vent blowing out from there but i think that's where its temperature sensor could come into play. The sensor senses the temperature of the playstation3 from the exhaust air emitted and regulate the Intercooler fan speed accordingly. The four fans of the Intercooler works together with the in-built fan to improve the air circulation inside the system by blowing into the system and exhausting the hot air out of the system. This is achieved with one pair of fan blowing in one direction and another pair blowing in the other, at least from what i can tell studying the fans at work since the fans only run when placed in right position and temperature. I rarely hear the built-in fan running anymore since installing the intercooler, not because the Intercooler is so damn loud but because it does such a good job that the in-built fan doesn't even kick in.

Black Humour

I'm not very demanding when it comes to action movie or action game plots, usually even the cliche works for me so when i heard that Platinum Games had roped in Final Fantasy XII's Yasumi Matsumi to pen Madworld scenario, i wasn't sure what to expect. Sure enough Madworld made little sense at the end but the cutscenes are slick and exciting enough to keep things interesting. The final boss is a bit of a joke but fitting considering the game's dark humour, in the end i'm not even sure who the real villain is. The game is just long enough so things don't become too repetitive but Madworld still works best when played in short bursts rather than one long sitting.

Hopefully Platinum Games will come up with a sequel without the Final Fantasy plot and introduce more new creative kills.

Does Everything (Except Keeping Cool)

While i was doing my usual game hunting earlier this month in singapore, my friend was hunting for a cooling fan for his playstation3 slim. Now this guy is a certified cooling geek, the type of guy who looks at the size of the cooling fan first and foremost before anything else when shopping for a PC. OK i may have stretch that part a little bit but the point was he instill a fear in me which i learnt to let go a long time ago. I remember back when i first got my ps3, i placed it in a vertical position at a confined area so the fear of overheating the unit was always there. I kept a standing fan turned on facing directly at my ps3 the whole time it was powered on that time. Later when i moved the ps3 downstairs to hook up with the LCD TV, i never really bother to cool down the unit anymore since it was in a horizontal position at a relatively open space.

After some friendly teasing from my friend, i became a little paranoid again and wonder why did i abandon my cooling habits a while back. The cooling fan which i could find in Singapore are mostly USB-powered made by third-party brand i have never heard of before, frankly they looked a little tacky and not the least bit reliable. Ultimately i came home without a cooling fan but still a lingering concern of this matter then i decided to see if there were reputable third-party labels dealing with these cooling fans gizmo. I found this Temp Smart Intercooler by Nyko which happens to be powered by its own external AC adapter and is available at most Gamestop outlets, all the hallmarks of a reliable product if you ask me. I immediately ask my sister to make a last-minute addition to my shopping list and here it is along with my other easter haul she brought back this week. Now the only thing remaining is to see how well it works when hooked up with the playstation3.

I Love This Game!

My next batch of Easter games are here, some highly acclaimed RPG games which were long overdue to be part of my collection. Silent Hill: Homecoming was originally supposed to be part of the mix but the game is fast disappearing be it at Asia region or US so the chances of finding the game brand new is pretty slim now.

Valkyria Chronicles is actually easier to find than Muramasa despite Muramasa being the newer game as it seems Sega is still pressing new copies of Valkyria, the new blu-ray case certainly seems to suggest so. Muramasa on the other hand is an old copy from when the game first debut in September 2009, i discovered this when i peel off the price tag to reveal the old original price underneath. Looks like Muramasa will be joining Silent Hill: Homecoming as part of this generation games that will be hard to find in the near future, you heard it here first folks so quickly grab your copy while you still can.

Fatal Fantasy

I have gone and done it again; despite all the savings and great deals i was able to find this past week it didn't take long for me to blown it all away with a costly deal on an import game. The japanese import of Fatal Frame IV has re-surfaced at the worst possible time when i'm at my most vulnerable state during my recent Wii craze and demand for the import is still high with the english patch reportedly working. I was considering between ordering it now or wait till my friend who's going to Japan later this year and ask him to track down a copy for me, hopefully at a lower price.

The fact that i'm still struggling to finish Fatal Frame III certainly doesn't bode well with the decision to commit now via Play-asia. This is quickly turning into another repeat of Yakuza as i move immediately from one installment to another and one generation of console to another. Hopefully these will ultimately all end well as i do have a penchant of fantasizing about playing games rather than actually playing them.

Different look, different voice

The first time i finished Shadow of Destiny, Eike gets run down by a bunch of drunk kids leaving me confused and unsure what the whole game was all about. Naturally i never played the game again after being disgusted by the ending i got until the game was recently ported to the PSP. I can't remember what i did differently this time but i got a much more satisfying ending where Eike loses his memory after defeating Homunculus and is trapped in the past. The special trailers which you unlocked after finishing the game appears to have been removed, perhaps Konami doesn't want unsuspecting gamers to know that this is a port of an old playstation2 game?

Come to think of it, i didn't see any of the staff involved with the PSP port listed on the ending credits either but i did read that this port contains all-new voicework and artwork. The artwork accompanying the opening menu does look new but i have to dust off my old playstation2 version to see if there is any truth regarding the new voiceovers.

Easter Hunting

I was doing my own Easter hunting this last weekend only it wasn't Easter eggs i was hunting for but video games. I was with a friend combing over all the game stores in singapore, big or small in search for bargains and rare games. Though i did managed to amass a nice haul of games this time, i could have gone for broke and grab the rare copy of Ace Attorney: Trials & Tribulations which i have a feeling i will regret later. I didn't prepare a list or have anything particular in mind this time around so i really wasn't expecting much especially since i have another haul of games arriving later this month.

The Metroid Trilogy is undoubtedly the highlight i wasn't interested in this collector's edition a while back having failed to be impressed with metroid prime hunters but after my friend started gushing about how great the series is (bar hunter) and even showing me his copy of the CE, i just knew i had to have it. I found the only copy in HMV City Link but still wasn't prepared to shell out full bucks, having just got Dead Rising and Uncharted during Gamescore Wii promotion earlier that day. As it turns out, i managed to snagged the Metroid Trilogy at stock clearance price the next day where i would least expect to find it but i supposed it all makes sense as most wouldn't go there to buy games. Notice the Uncharted happens to be the original black label packaging? Another nice find at Gamescore as these 're-packaged' Greatest Hits are a collector's dream come true, original black labels at Greatest Hits price though i was actually planning to get Uncharted 2 but prices for those were still too expensive. Despite all this new stuff, i still have more coming my way later this month which you should keep your eyes peeled for.

Another Try

I usually have a very good instinct about what I like and what would make a game great almost to the point where my friends would make fun of me for purchasing games not based on reviews or scores. Though I'm not very fond of first-party games be it Nintendo's or Sony's, the Metroid series was a franchise I knew I would like despite not having played a single game. From the great level design that inspired Symphony of the Night (and ultimately all subsequent Castlevania games) to the John Woo film that never got made, this was a franchise for me. So when i finally had the opportunity to experience the Metroid series for the first time, i didn't hesitate to add Metroid Prime: Hunters to my collection.

Though Prime Hunters was by no means a poor DS game, it certainly didn't showcase the series' best strengths and made me wonder if I was wrong about the Metroid series. Part of the problem was I loathe playing first-person since my PC gaming days and having to perform platform leaps in first-person is an absolute nightmare if you have every played Prime Hunters. Now that the series going to be a third-person game thanks to Tecmo, i decide to give the original Prime series a try. A friend of mine played a big role in this, helping sell to me how great the Prime series is and also how desirable the Metroid Trilogy Collector's Edition is. It's now or never as the Trilogy is no longer being published, I wonder how much of a chance i have in scoring a brand new copy without having to pay an arm and leg at eBay?

Wild Search is Over

For the past few weeks i have been searching everywhere for yakuza 3 region 1, a search that is getting increasingly futile unless i started looking abroad. Then last weekend when i decided to show my support for a local game store grand opening, i ended up with not one but two copies of yakuza 3! Granted neither of those two were the coveted region 1 version but in the end i believe they offered a better value for money than if i had got the region 1 copy albeit having to spent a bit more than i intially thought.

One was the Yakuza 3 japanese import in first print and the other, the asian version of yakuza 3 at wholesale price for that opening day only. I have considered of playing the japanese import before but that proven unnecessary when Sega finally announced that they would indeed to bringing the game to western gamers. Then the announcement of cut material dampen everyone's excitement for the game and with no official reply from Sega, it seems the only way to experience the game in its complete form was to play the japanese version. This was actually old stock waiting to be cleared and once again i felt the urge to rescue it from the shelf when i first saw it there. It was down to about half its original retail price for a japanese import meaning a pretty chunk of saving if i had purchased the japanese import when it first came out.

When i told my friends that i was waiting out for the region 1 of yakuza 3, they question my decision to spent so much for a game with cut content and on top of that, a pretty dated game if you consider the original release in Japan. Already being deprived of content cut from the western release, i was adamant about not being deprived of the downloadable content as well (DLC). That and also other aesthetic reasons led me to relentlessly pursue the region 1 version. Until I found the japanese import which i didn't think would be possible anymore for first print now that the budget label release is out. Then all i needed was localised copy which i could play to make some sense of the game in japanese which didn't necessarily have to be region 1 anymore. The wholesale price was tempting to say the least but looking at the asian box art, it probably was not a bad idea as i don't worry about looking at a moody kazuma with white goatee on the box.

Best of Times, Worst of Times

Tomorrow marks the fifth anniversary of the Sony PSP and my close to four year relationship with the system since coming to own one back in middle of 2006. Up until my trip to Hong Kong that year, i didn't even know i was going to be getting a Sony PSP as it was all a spur in the moment thing. I never did any homework on the system before getting one and paid dearly for that. Not counting the games i get to play for free on custom firmware i probably spent more than your average gamer did for the same handheld. An example of how ignorant i was about the system and its games was the very first game i got on my Sony PSP, i ended up paying close to price of a brand new console game ($55!). That's what the Sony PSP will do to you, it will punish and scare the hell out of you if you don't know anything but it would also reward you greatly if you take the time to get to learn the system inside outside. Even now i'm still learning how to get the most out of the system after my recent renewed interest in the Sony PSP. It's probably the only system i regret not spending enough time on to warrant its purchase as its limited success may have deter my interest earlier.

He's a Woman, She's a Man

If there ever was a most accidental prone award in video games then it would have to be Eike from Shadow of Destiny, an obscure playstation2 game by konami that was recently revived on the Sony PSP. I remember playing the game on my playstation2 a long time ago, it was one of the very first game i played and if it wasn't for the horrible ending i got i would have probably played it a few more times again.

The game looks pretty good on the Sony PSP with bold but simple character models despite the bland environment in fact if you never played the original you probably couldn't tell it was a ps2 port. The death scenes which Eike must avoid looks laughable now but i will give the game the benefit of the doubt in order to see it through to the big picture at the end. Hopefully this time i will get an explanation as to why Eike is so prone to accidents but i'm willing to wager that the most memorable thing about this game is still the sexually-ambiguous time traveling sorcerer who aides Eike. Not even Koji Igarashi name listed as producer can top that as i feel like an Austin Powers moment coming up trying to figure out his/her gender.

is that a man or a woman?

A Fighter's Blues

Since i have yet to play Yakuza 3 and got so bored of playing RE5 again, i decided it's about time to give Madworld another try. What a difference it was from when i first played the game back in July last year, the faults i have with the game are still there but Madworld does make a pretty good brawler especially when you compared the fighting with yakuza 3. Frankly when i first play the game i wasn't expecting a brawling game but Madworld is exactly that, Just Jack doesn't have a whole lot of different moves to take down his enemies nor does he dodge very gracefully away from attack but his impact moves and finishers are thoroughly satisfying. In the end I have come to accept that Jack just moves and attack a lot more like Kazuma rather than what I'm accustomed to with Dante and Nero.

The camera is still horrible, picking up weapons and facing your opponents is a nightmare especially when the game locks down the camera angle in certain situation but at least the game looks pretty even in 480i. The production design is pretty impressive for an action game where it's usually an afterthought but Madworld is good enough to make you take the time to stop and admire. The game is reportedly only 5 to 6 hours long so there should be no problems playing it till finish this time since i already can't wait to get back to playing it again. Maybe it was the longing to play yakuza 3 that has led me to back to Madworld but the game has got my undivided attention right now, at a time when I have nothing else better to play. Well at least until next month when i should have a bounty full of cool new games to play.

Y2K10 bug

Where were you when it happened, the leap year bug that caused all older model of Playstation3 not to function properly? I was actually planning to turn on my ps3 that Sunday evening but got held up finishing Metal Gear Solid on my PSOne. The next day was sheer panic, the amount of news and post on the internet relating to the bug and how Sony dodged the question of how this could happen and whether or not a clear solution was on its way.

It was then when i realised how attached i was to my ps3 having previously down played the importance of the console when compared with the games it played. I supposed it had to do with how much trouble i went through to get hold of my 80gb backward-compatible unit and how content i was with it, when all my friends had to spend more on additional hard disk space and controller. Mine had everything i need off the box though it came at a slightly higher price than the rest, the fact i didn't need to spent on anything more except games really made me feel grateful of what i have. When the dust has settled and the problem fixed itself the next day, I couldn't wait to turn on my ps3 to make sure everything's ok. Judging from the number of friends I see online that night, I'm betting a lot feel the same too.

March Madness II

Right about this time last year I was experiencing my march madness where my spending just went up the roof for Resident Evil 5 and all other things RE-lated. This year things are not much different and i'm sure you will agree if you are an avid ps3 user with the slew of great ps3 games out this month. While i'm feeling the pinch myself, it's less apparent here seeing that i never developed much of any liking for RPG games and also i have always been much more of a devil may cry guy.

Most of the damage would have to be attributed to my trip to Singapore later this month and also my sister trip to US where i hope to score a couple of good bargains back. These aren't exactly new games which you will learn about over the coming few weeks but it should keep me busy until summer when Capcom's big sequels are out. With no sign of Yakuza 3 region 1 in sight yet, I still haven't figure out if i should continue to wait it out and add it onto my already long shopping list.

Day One No More

Yakuza 3 is scheduled for release tomorrow and i came to a decision not to make it a first-day purchase anymore. No, it's not because of the lack of hostess side-mission or the games i have unfinished as that is something i have learnt to come to terms with as an adult gamer. This has more to do with me being content with still playing Resident Evil 5 DLC while the prospect of getting some new games next month intrigued me enough to put off getting Yakuza 3 for now.

I do anticipate having to cope with my friends playing and finishing the game before I do but I realised I would still get the last laugh when i finally finished Yakuza 2 before starting Yakuza 3 in a haste like i would have now.

Host Gone Ghost

Yakuza is shaping up to be a series where Sega seems to never get things right from the beginning of the franchise up until now. Yakuza 1 was dubbed much to purists dismay though Yakuza 2 was left pretty much intact after localization, it was released way too late to even make an impact.

Now Yakuza 3 will have some content cut from its original Japanese version because of cultural differences and lack of time to properly localise everything. Its the kind of stuff that fanboys will chew and debate over for ages to come though it's unlikely to make or break the game. The problem is the content removed though trivial to the eyes of the Sega team happens to be the main appeal to many of Yakuza fans. Yes the hostess game which has evolved from each of yakuza game will not be featured in this forthcoming yakuza release. Not many will admit it but i have seen enough forums and friends to know that a lot of gamers play yakuza because of the hostess side missions.

Bullet and Brain

Part of the fear within the resident evil games has always been how scarce it is to stock up ammunition against the undead. I remember how that fear eventually led to obsession in the early PSOne games as i spend more and more time organising and arranging the inventory in my item box. Of course that all changed in RE4 where the enemies sometimes drop ammunition in addition to the ones found in crates and barrels.

In Lost in Nightmares there isn't enough time to create that sort of fear but the developers did squeeze in a segment where you and your partner are stripped of your weapon and have to make it out of the area by using your wits and cunning to outsmart the executioners. Sure it sounds cliche as hell and it certainly feels like the way but having a live partner makes the sequence a lot more enjoyable that it looks. It's the sort of puzzle that reviewers have always found fault with and it's probably no different here but that has always bit part of the appeal of the series to me. It is either scary nor smart but sometimes a hint of nostalgia is all it takes to me smile.

The Undead Diaries

For resident evil 5, Capcom delivered hollywood quality cinematics to go with the tried and true gameplay of re4. So it's of little surprise that the new dlc 'lost of nightmares' doesn't contain any new spectacular custcenes instead relying on the traditional notes and diaries to drive the story. After all assembling the mo-cap actors and crew for the little amount of work involved here wouldn't not have been worthwhile for capcom but that's just fine with me. For one thing i thought the original resident evil 5 placed a little too much emphasis on the production of the cutscenes to the point where they devoted the entire behind-the-scenes disc to the making of it. The production design and art direction of the 'lost in nightmare' chapter takes center stage here, delivering creepy atmosphere that were sorely missed in the original resident evil 5. This is how resident evil 5 should be, where solid visuals and gameplay takes precedence over everything else.

When The STARS Align

You can probably tell I was very excited to play new DLC content for Resident Evil 5 but what i haven't count on was getting hooked on playing the mercenaries reunion game instead. You see playing co-op on the original story campaign of resident evil 5 has got me a bit reluctant to play the new 'lost in nightmares' by myself and since i have not managed to catch hold of any of my friends for a co-op session, all that was left was to brush up my zombie-slaying skills on mercenaries. Not that i mind, i left half of the characters and levels in the original mercenaries mode untouched for the chance to go back at it again so now seems like a fitting time to pick up where i left off.

Having familiar faces like Barry and Rebecca joining the fray certainly didn't hurt either. This STARS reunion was a long time coming but it's been worth the wait.

Maximum Thrill

After finally updating my Sony PSP, I hit upon a great way of playing the new Silent Hill: Shattered Memories. Yes i will attempt to play the game on both the Sony PSP and Playstation2 at the same time like i earlier envisioned how i would for Okami.

Well maybe not simultaneously since i have yet to clear enough space on my ps2 memory card in order to play the game but close enough as i'm nearly finished with fatal frame 3. That way since the game storyline and character changes depending on the player's behaviour, i will be able to live out two contrasting characters and see how the story ends for both. While ideally i should be playing this on my Wii, i still have a handful of games to finish on that platform before i really consider getting anymore.

Well at least until Fragile ships anyway.

Re-light My Fire

I have a bit of a hot and cold relationship when it comes to my Sony PSP, after finishing almost ten games in 2008 i left it to cool and could barely finish one game in 2009. Things are looking for the the Sony PSP in 2010 and that has gotten me interested to rekindle the flame with the old portable again.

I spent almost the entire afternoon today updating my custom firmware and much to my surprise it was easier than i would imagine. I suspect a lot of the hard part was already taken care of during the earlier update so this time around it was just a matter to plugging in the patch and running it. Having an old PSP-1000 model also helps of course, as the process was a lot simpler compared with the latter models. As with all Sony products of late, it pays to buy the early models especially with a product that has seen so many hardware revisions like the Sony PSP.

Midnight Attack

Since I don't live in the US, it's hard to tell when exactly a product will be made available on Playstation Network even if i know the release date. Obviously i can't be logging on when the clock strikes midnight upon the day of release as we are roughly ahead by 12 hours. That's why it's important for me to log on today as soon as i can to see if the Heavy Rain demo is available for download, after all this is the last week of PSN updates before the re5 dlc is release on PSN next week.

Come next week i will still be away from work on the 18th so hopefully this will get me better prepared as to what time to log on to PSN to purchase those dlc.

Evil Now Has a Voice

I gave myself an early treat this chinese new year when i finally bought the official sony bluetooth headset for my playstation3. Despite constant urging from my friends since we started on the operation flashpoint 2 campaign, i didn't see that game as one worthy for me to spend any more money on especially since i have never made good use of any of my past nintendo peripherals. While that has not change, i did buy headset because i knew i didn't have enough time to get another game before Yakuza 3 ships and also i thought it would compliment my re5 dlc purchase rather nicely later this month.

With my PSN store credit in place and my new headset, i'm all ready to take a trip down memory lane when the 'lost in nightmare' episode is unleashed. It would be fun to reminisce about the series with long-time fans over the headset as the new episode promises to conjure up all sorts of old memories.